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Alleged shooter waives preliminary hearing
YOUNGSTOWN
The parents of a man accused of shooting into a carload of women that included a Youngstown State University student expressed their desire to see the alleged victim make a full recovery.
Emmett and Shawneze Wilson, parents of Sylean Wilson, 19, of Pittsburgh, were present for their son’s preliminary hearing Wednesday before Judge Elizabeth Kobly of Youngstown Municipal Court.
Wilson faces multiple counts of felonious assault.
Wilson, with his attorney Walter Madison, elected to waive the hearing, however, meaning the case will be presented directly to a Mahoning County grand jury.
“We are very prayerful for the young lady in this incident as well as our son and his well-being,” said Emmett Wilson. “We hope she makes a full recovery, and our prayers are with her family.”
Sylean Wilson is in Mahoning County jail on a $200,000 bond.
Police say Wilson stood near Pennsylvania Avenue near the YSU campus firing at a car in which a group of young women were seated in the early morning of Feb. 17.
Police believe he fired multiple shots at the car, even stepping forward at one point to take better aim.
Brittany N. Johnson, 23, of Bedford Heights, a YSU nursing student, was taken by a friend to St. Elizabeth Health Center after being shot in the torso while in a vehicle on Pennsylvania. She is expected to make a full recovery.
Johnson had been the rear-seat passenger in the car with three other women. No one else was wounded in the shooting.
Police said Wilson ran into a Pennsylvania Avenue apartment building right after the shooting, where he was later captured by police.
Madison would not get into the specifics of the charges against his client.
“The family is here in support, and it is obvious that Sylean was raised in a good, decent family,” Madison said. “We have no comment on the facts, but we are aware of the gravity of the situation and believe the justice system will come to the right conclusion in this matter.”
Rashaad Lewis, 19, also of Pittsburgh, is charged with a single count of obstructing official business. He is accused of trying to prevent police from entering the building where Wilson was hiding.